<p>My daughter is currently a high school junior. We will be visiting the Boston area end of March and plan to visit Harvard. She is considering Harvard Engineering but is unsure as to how it compares with MIT. We plan to go through the campus tour and meet with assistant dean. </p>
<p>I would really appreciate if anyone has any suggestions about things to do and/or find out during this visit. Any insight into Harvard Engineering would be greatly appreciated. If someone on campus would be kind enough to show us around outside of the standard tour we would be very grateful. We will be on campus between 11 and 5 on 3/26/08.</p>
<p>There aren't any tours during spring break, according to the office hours schedule posted on their website: Harvard</a> College Admissions Office. However, there seems to be information sessions at 10AM.</p>
<p>We were on the Harvard campus exactly a year ago during their spring break and it was depressingly dead, I'm sorry to say. My nephew was in law school there, so we did get a VIP tour, but even so, left without a very clear impression of students and campus life. Maybe the prof you're meeting with can find an engineering student/grad student to have coffee with your daughter so that she could ask some frank questions. Alternatively, perhaps the person you meet with could give her an email address of a current student to connect with. </p>
<p>Now that I've set your expectations sufficiently low, maybe your experience will be better than ours. The only thing worse was dropping in at Tufts on a Sunday morning of their spring break, a couple of days later. I vowed never again to visit a campus on a break. It's just not fair to the school.</p>
<p>Harvard engineering is vastly different from MIT engineering. For one thing, you receive an S.B in Engineering, with no major specified. You can also elect to receive an A.B degree. The S.B. is ABET accredited while the A.B. is not. I suggest you take a look at Harvard's "Undergraduate Brochure" for their engineering program as it is very informative. Students develop their own curriculum and study what they choose. MIT's program is much more structured.</p>
<p>If I were on campus, I'd love to give you a tour... but I'll be out of town.</p>
<p>Be sure to walk through the yard (don't touch the toe of the John Harvard statue). Check out Maxwell Dworkin and the engineering buildings around it. Walk by the river houses (and check out the Radcliffe Quadrangle, if you'd like exercise). Grab a slice of pizza at Noch's (just east of JFK on Winthrop St.). Try to poke your head in Annenberg (or at least Sanders Theater).</p>
<p>Oh, and the engineers I know love "The Kong" (Hong Kong Restaurant on Mass Ave.), but I can't in good faith recommend it to you - unless it's 3 a.m. and nothing else is open. Bartley's Burger Cottage, which is right next to the Kong, is absolutely incredible.</p>
<p>I understand the Grounds Crew wash down the toe each morning. At least I hope so. BTW, you'll not find a restaurant called Noch's - it's Pinnochio's - and you might want to try something with more on the menu besides pizza. First and foremost - do not try to drive in Cambridge! Get on the T (subway) and use public transpo instead. Definitely try to arrange something with a prof - here's the website: Harvard</a> School of Engineering and Applied Sciences - Undergraduate Study.</p>
<p>what else is there to avoid with the toe besides the number of people that have touched it? Wouldn't a good dousing of antibacterial soap wash it clean afterwards?</p>
<p>Yea, it's more just the gross factor that stops people from touching the toe. Medically you're fine (but I would definitely recommend washing/purelling your hands afterwards).</p>
<p>PS. Noch's is short for Pinnochio's Pizza if you're trying to google it</p>
<p>Harvard will be on spring break, so there won't be classes to visit. But a lot of Harvard students will be on campus anyway. So it won't be quite "dead." I'd suggest emailing a prof or two in the School of Engineering to ask if they'd be willing to meet despite the fact that it is spring break. Some may be going to their offices and would not mind spending a little time with a prospective student, especially as the School of Engineering is expanding and attracting female students must be something of a priority. Your D might also look into Olin, which is in the Needham suburb, and perhaps WPI in Worcester, about an hour away.</p>
<p>We're going the same week, and I can confirm that there are info sessions, but no tours. You could tour Tufts, though (I think you need a reservation--check the website).</p>